FCC seeks public comment as live sports shift from broadcast TV to streaming

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The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the request for comment Wednesday. The comment period runs through March 27 and replies to the comments are due April 13.

“For decades, Americans enjoyed turning on their TV & quickly finding the game they wanted to see. Yet watching your favorite team play isn’t as easy these day. Many games are still on broadcast, but an increasing number are on a range of different online platforms,” Carr posted. “Today, the FCC asks for comment on sports rights and broadcasting. We want to understand the marketplace today, the experience of consumers, and how the changes impact the ability of broadcast TV stations to continue delivering local news, information, and other programming."

Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted for coordinating their broadcast television rights.

The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast television. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other mediums, including cable, satellite and streaming.

The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games, which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the leagues. The NFL ended local TV blackouts, which applied to games within 75 miles of a team’s market if they did not sell out 72 hours before kickoff, after the 2014 season.

The public notice Wednesday said NFL games aired on “10 different services, which, according to some estimates, could cost a consumer over $1,500 to watch all games.”

The NFL aired games last season on CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.

Forbes estimated the cost of watching every NFL game via streaming last season at $765.

The NFL also offers most of its games on broadcast television, including options for all local games on cable or streaming.

"The NFL has the most accessible, fan-friendly distribution model across all of sports and entertainment, with over 87% of our games shown on free broadcast television in addition to numerous, popular digital platforms,” the league said in a statement to AP.

All four of the major North American professional sports leagues have deals with streaming platforms.

The NBA is in the first season of an 11-year deal where games on Monday nights are shown on Peacock, while Amazon Prime Video also has games, mostly on Thursday and Friday nights.

MLB agreed to three-year deals with Netflix and Peacock that begin this season.

The NHL is in the fifth season of its seven-year rights deal where some games appear on ESPN+ and Hulu.

The FCC is asking the public to answer a wide range of questions, including:

— With respect to the sports media marketplace, how have recent developments in the marketplace affected the ability of broadcasters to obtain media rights to sports programming?

— How have changes in the marketplace affected viewers’ ability to watch nationally televised live sports, as well as their local team(s), on broadcast TV?

— How prevalent are sports media rights deals between local TV broadcasters and local sports teams and what are their terms and conditions?

— How have changes in the marketplace impacted costs to consumers?

The last two questions are becoming increasingly significant due to the demise of regional sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group was the largest owner of regional sports networks when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2023.

At the time of the filing, Diamond operated 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner and had the rights to 42 professional teams (14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL).

The networks emerged from bankruptcy last March under Main Street Sports Group, with their networks rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network. However, they are on the verge of insolvency and could go out of business if a new majority owner or investors are not found.

MLB will handle production and distribution for 15 of its 30 teams this season after Main Street Sports Group failed to make scheduled rights payments to seven teams.

Main Street currently has 15 owned-and-operated networks under the FanDuel banner, with rights to 20 pro teams: 13 NBA and seven NHL. It has committed to airing games for its remaining teams through the end of the regular season but is likely to go out of business after that.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports